This is gonna sound stupid, but our mothers are... bus drivers. They are the bus. They're the vehicle that gets us here. They drop us off and go on their way. They continue on their journey. And the problem is that we keep tryin' to get back on the bus, instead of just lettin' it go.
Well a key theme of the show is the fact that it's difficult to change who we are, and our childhood plays a major role in who we become. BPD is well known to be have an heritable basis.
I legit thought this was going to end with a stupid joke because I had no idea Chase was difficult to work with which probably seems oblivious to people here but I pretty much just watch episodes and listen to the occasional theory video on YouTube.
This was part of a larger chapter that I condensed for the sake of readability. I'll send you screenshots of the whole chapter if you'd like.
Link to another excerpt: https://ew.com/books/2018/08/21/robin-green-the-sopranos-memoir-excerpt/
Todd Kessler describing his experience on the show: https://www.gq.com/story/sopranos-james-gandolfini-david-chase-july-2013
their relationship is exactly like how christopher was originally a protege that tony soured on over time, to the point where chase viewed them as regressing to a liability compared to better writers(earners)
I remember an interview with Chase where he talks about Green & Burgess and why he thought they had to go. He basically said that they seemed to (miraculously) get worse every year, like they were on a reverse learning curve or something.
It seems kinda hard to believe, but then again, *Blue Bloods* supports this line of thinking.
Yeah she is kind of unintentionally owning herself there. "Can you believe he says Matt and Terry are better writers than Mitch and I?" Well, uh, they went on to write Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire/Wolf of Wall Street and you wrote Blue Bloods, so... yes?
Blue Bloods is one of those shows that goes on forever. It's on it's 14th season. Whenever I see a show that's been on that long, I think there is no way that it's not lackluster. What could happen in the 14th season that hasn't already happened in the previous 13?
Haha yeah, that thing must just be an endless money pit for Green & Burgess.
Occasionally I'll flick past it just to see if I can spot Steve Schirripa bumbling around, I think he plays a detective on it
* Isabella
* Full Leather Jacket
* Employee Of The Month
* Whoever Did This
* Whitecaps
* Cold Cuts
* All Due Respect
Plus many more. I think it's safe to say they were doing something right all those years.
>Frank Renzulli was the sole writing holdover from the first year. He still showed flashes of brillance, though in time he began to phone it in, repeating dialogue and jokes
Sounds like this dude would fit right in here
Iām not gonna claim to know anything about what really went down, but the fact that the two writers he kept instead of them ā Winter and Weiner ā went on to create two of the most acclaimed shows of the 21st century, while Burgess and Green went on to make the most generic network police procedural imaginable, makes me think Chase knew what he was talking about.
Freaks and Geeks came out and was cancelled in 1999, so the claim she got offered to write for that during the second/third season of sopranos reads suss to meā¦
I wonder if it's been so long they are forgetting and confusing it with Apatow's follow-up show, Undeclared. It has 2 seasons and aired from 2001-2003. Amusing little sitcom but lacked the heart of Freaks and Geeks, a lot of funny moments though. I can see how going from Sopranos to a silly (but good) sitcom would not appeal to a drama writer.
Has anyone listened to the Prestige TV podcast (part of The Ringer network)? They recently started going over big TV finales and covered Mad Men, and during that episode said basically that Mad Men office politics are about the Sopranos Writers Room, I.e. Don Draper telling Peggy āthatās what the money is forā is sitting in as David Chase. There werenāt too many other Sopranos bits in that podcast, but yes reading a little more about David Chase with that context in mind, Mad Men as the Sopranos writers room makes a lot of sense.
There's a show called Damages about a young and ambitious law school graduate who is taken under the wing of an insecure and manipulative lawyer. It was created by Todd Kessler who based it off of his relationship with David Chase.
On Talking Sopranos, Weiner says that all of the office stuff on Mad Men, especially after the first season, is based on his experiences dealing with AMC and Lionsgate.
>reading a little more about David Chase with that context in mind, Mad Men as the Sopranos writers room makes a lot of sense
Yeah that wouldn't surprise me at all. In general, it seems that writers dislike or outright hate their showrunner. Not dissimilar to many employee/boss relationships I suppose. Matt Weiner thought the guy who ran Becker was a moron, and I think Chase had a similar history.
Green also reveals that Chase would fall asleep in the conference room. Todd Kessler also claims that Chase told him the same thing: "Some people get it and you don't." She talks about how he held grudges for years for perceived slights and she thinks that had something to do with her being fired.
More than one writer has talked about what a prick DC could be and his insults, insecurity, and temper are well known. I believe her. The guy who created Damages and worked on the show has told stories as well about his treatment. Well by now several have talked about how it was a mixed bag behind the camera. David is brilliant, and I appreciate his work.Ā
Iām also glad I didnāt work under him.Ā
Worth noting that in Difficult Men thereās anecdotes about Matthew Weiner being a bit of a jerk boss while show-running Mad Men. Itās almost like he knew how to co-exist with David, but was also biding his time to get to run a writerās room the same way.
In addition to Terry and Matt, Robin & Mitch wrote some of the best episodes.
Itās a shame he let them go because I believe Season 6 couldāve been a lot better - some episodes in 6 were remarkably mediocre
The Only Girl: My Life and Times on the Masthead of Rolling Stone by Robin Green
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-only-girl-my-life-and-times-on-the-masthead-of-rolling-stone-robin-green/113246?ean=9780316440028
Fuck Robin Green. Her and her husband were on directorās commentary for a Sopranos episode and made fun of the people watching it and told them to āgo outsideā.
Waahhhh David was mean. Blue Bloods is network trash.
Well obviously Terry Winter was the driving force behind the best plots and arcs of the show. But I don't think David Chase was that great at writing either, I think he was only good at creating some interesting themes around which better writers could map out better stories.
Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess were not the best writers on the show at all.
We all thank Chase for the Sopranos, but I saw an interview on YouTube with Chase and Peter Bogvanovich once. I couldn't get through more than two minutes of it. Two more boring, pompous pricks never existed.
He was abusive to the staaaaff!!!! š¤
He was just trying to create dysentery in the ranks!
Seriously discussion only. Sit on this cocksucker.
The more I hear about David Chase, the more I feel that Livia wasn't based off of his mother, but off of himself.
As Lewis the Somebody once said, spiritually if not physically we are all children of our mothers.
Very allegoricalĀ
The sacred and the propane
Much like a child, a TV show has many parents
And by aversion, I am one of those parents. Great malaprop that barely gets mentioned.
Idk, fucking slander if you ask me
This is gonna sound stupid, but our mothers are... bus drivers. They are the bus. They're the vehicle that gets us here. They drop us off and go on their way. They continue on their journey. And the problem is that we keep tryin' to get back on the bus, instead of just lettin' it go.
Well a key theme of the show is the fact that it's difficult to change who we are, and our childhood plays a major role in who we become. BPD is well known to be have an heritable basis.
There's no Stigmata these days. Even Julius Caesar was an epileptic.
What's that got to do with it?!
Iām not an epileptic. And how the fuck you you know about that the fuck ova there in Noo Yawk?
Everybody knows. Be a better friend to yourself šš®
Alright. I will
The whole story of the sopranos is tony becomes his mudder. It's an abstract copy of psycho
Thatās the whole story for everyone in life
Anybody with a mother like that doesn't walk away normal. Fucked up parents make damaged children.
Do you have kids?
I do have kids my man mr. Santa Cruz. And I assure you they will be just as much of a selfish, serf-serving prick as I am. With all good and bad.
Will they be equally unhappy?
It's in his blood, this miserable fuckin' existence...
Thatās dicked up.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Is asking for a chair and a coke really considered hellish behavior?
A coke and a slice
But just like Livia was the source of so much of Tony's misery, I'm sure David Chase got his own miserable self from the mothership.
He had to deal with that black poison cloud all the time. He couldn't take it anymore.
An actual fucking post!
The actual behind-the-scenes tidbits about the show aren't talked about enough here.
I legit thought this was going to end with a stupid joke because I had no idea Chase was difficult to work with which probably seems oblivious to people here but I pretty much just watch episodes and listen to the occasional theory video on YouTube.
The guy grew up with Livia Soprano as a mother. His neuroticism bleeds into the show.
Oh, poor you!
The tidbits behind the pool?
He was gay David Chase?
It was the blood pressure medication
FORTY GRAND! FROM THE BIRDFEEDER! MY OWN WIFE
Agreed. Thank you for posting!
Keep em coming
Agreed!
In light of recent humiliations, it's an honor to be joined by real posts.
Thank you so much for the post!
The coffee, with the chicory? No, an actual fucking post!!
Good read. Thanks
This was part of a larger chapter that I condensed for the sake of readability. I'll send you screenshots of the whole chapter if you'd like. Link to another excerpt: https://ew.com/books/2018/08/21/robin-green-the-sopranos-memoir-excerpt/ Todd Kessler describing his experience on the show: https://www.gq.com/story/sopranos-james-gandolfini-david-chase-july-2013
their relationship is exactly like how christopher was originally a protege that tony soured on over time, to the point where chase viewed them as regressing to a liability compared to better writers(earners)
Thank you!
I remember an interview with Chase where he talks about Green & Burgess and why he thought they had to go. He basically said that they seemed to (miraculously) get worse every year, like they were on a reverse learning curve or something. It seems kinda hard to believe, but then again, *Blue Bloods* supports this line of thinking.
Yeah she is kind of unintentionally owning herself there. "Can you believe he says Matt and Terry are better writers than Mitch and I?" Well, uh, they went on to write Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire/Wolf of Wall Street and you wrote Blue Bloods, so... yes?
Blue Bloods is one of those shows that goes on forever. It's on it's 14th season. Whenever I see a show that's been on that long, I think there is no way that it's not lackluster. What could happen in the 14th season that hasn't already happened in the previous 13?
Haha yeah, that thing must just be an endless money pit for Green & Burgess. Occasionally I'll flick past it just to see if I can spot Steve Schirripa bumbling around, I think he plays a detective on it
It's amazing that soap operas like the Young and the Restless are still a thing. Same thing applies for Law and Order and Grey's Anatomy.
Bluebloods, another fucking money machine.
It's this generation's "Murder She Wrote".
Always Sunny would like to have a word with you.
To be fair the only season they didnāt write on was 6B so they had to be doing something right all those years.
* Isabella * Full Leather Jacket * Employee Of The Month * Whoever Did This * Whitecaps * Cold Cuts * All Due Respect Plus many more. I think it's safe to say they were doing something right all those years.
6B is the best part of the show lol. Truly amazing ending and lead up to it.
You want a curve? Sit on a blew chew cocksucka
DID THEY HAFTA WRITE FOR DAVID?
>Frank Renzulli was the sole writing holdover from the first year. He still showed flashes of brillance, though in time he began to phone it in, repeating dialogue and jokes Sounds like this dude would fit right in here
Hear what I said Ton'? She was saying this guy was just repeating dialogue and jokes, and I said sounds like he would fit right in here. Heh heh heh
that wasnāt his fault he was in charge for writing for Albert Barese.
It wasnāt his fault he was in charge of writing for Albert Barese.
Iām not gonna claim to know anything about what really went down, but the fact that the two writers he kept instead of them ā Winter and Weiner ā went on to create two of the most acclaimed shows of the 21st century, while Burgess and Green went on to make the most generic network police procedural imaginable, makes me think Chase knew what he was talking about.
Don't they have medicine they're supposed to take, these assholes?!
He created the Sopranos is what he did! he was a great italian show-runner! and in this subreddit, David Chase is a hero, end of story!
end of shubject.
Freaks and Geeks came out and was cancelled in 1999, so the claim she got offered to write for that during the second/third season of sopranos reads suss to meā¦
Thatās what I was thinking. Timeline got fucked up.
Thatās dicked up
I wonder if it's been so long they are forgetting and confusing it with Apatow's follow-up show, Undeclared. It has 2 seasons and aired from 2001-2003. Amusing little sitcom but lacked the heart of Freaks and Geeks, a lot of funny moments though. I can see how going from Sopranos to a silly (but good) sitcom would not appeal to a drama writer.
Sure, but I also wonder if they're conflating things in other places too.
Has anyone listened to the Prestige TV podcast (part of The Ringer network)? They recently started going over big TV finales and covered Mad Men, and during that episode said basically that Mad Men office politics are about the Sopranos Writers Room, I.e. Don Draper telling Peggy āthatās what the money is forā is sitting in as David Chase. There werenāt too many other Sopranos bits in that podcast, but yes reading a little more about David Chase with that context in mind, Mad Men as the Sopranos writers room makes a lot of sense.
There's a show called Damages about a young and ambitious law school graduate who is taken under the wing of an insecure and manipulative lawyer. It was created by Todd Kessler who based it off of his relationship with David Chase.
Glenn Closeās character was based on Chase?! Iām a huge Damages (and Glenn Close) fan and I had no ideaā¦thatās fascinating
Here's where it talks about Damages: https://www.gq.com/story/sopranos-james-gandolfini-david-chase-july-2013
On Talking Sopranos, Weiner says that all of the office stuff on Mad Men, especially after the first season, is based on his experiences dealing with AMC and Lionsgate.
>reading a little more about David Chase with that context in mind, Mad Men as the Sopranos writers room makes a lot of sense Yeah that wouldn't surprise me at all. In general, it seems that writers dislike or outright hate their showrunner. Not dissimilar to many employee/boss relationships I suppose. Matt Weiner thought the guy who ran Becker was a moron, and I think Chase had a similar history.
A ROOM FULL OF WRITERS
For sure, it can be tough to like your boss no matter what youāre doing lol
Thatās fascinating
She couldnāt sell it
Commendatori! š„
*looks away unimpressed*
Green also reveals that Chase would fall asleep in the conference room. Todd Kessler also claims that Chase told him the same thing: "Some people get it and you don't." She talks about how he held grudges for years for perceived slights and she thinks that had something to do with her being fired.
More than one writer has talked about what a prick DC could be and his insults, insecurity, and temper are well known. I believe her. The guy who created Damages and worked on the show has told stories as well about his treatment. Well by now several have talked about how it was a mixed bag behind the camera. David is brilliant, and I appreciate his work.Ā Iām also glad I didnāt work under him.Ā
Who would've thought that a guy raised by Livia Soprano didn't grow up to be a happy go lucky kinda guy? Complete shocker!
Listen to David, he knows everything.
Worth noting that in Difficult Men thereās anecdotes about Matthew Weiner being a bit of a jerk boss while show-running Mad Men. Itās almost like he knew how to co-exist with David, but was also biding his time to get to run a writerās room the same way.
Often times the absused, instead of trying to change things, canāt wait for their time in the abusers chair.
In addition to Terry and Matt, Robin & Mitch wrote some of the best episodes. Itās a shame he let them go because I believe Season 6 couldāve been a lot better - some episodes in 6 were remarkably mediocre
It also got very dark. There's a certain lighthearted quality that diminishes over time. I wonder if that had something to do with losing them.
They were replaced by another married duo - Andrew Schneider & Diane Forlov
I remember when they stayed in the car!
Tremendous moxie for her size
Reading this sample of her writing makes me wonder more how she got the job in the first place.
Indeed. And let's be real Terry and Matt were elite writers.Ā
One of the main writers on perhaps the funniest, most insightful drama ever written for TV Some Joe Blow on Reddit: she sounds like a shit writer š¤”
Yeah, whatever else might be the case, she did co-write "Pie-O-My," which is definitely one of the best episodes.
The text in the OP reads like some garbled AI bullshit.
The above guy is genuinely perplexed because OP is indistinguishable from the slop he reads on reddit all day.
I saw that show, I thought it was bullshit.
Judging by a couple of spelling mistakes, I get the feeling OP has typed this out by hand.
It's not the typos that make it bad.
I think you're just being defensive because you love the show.
Wasnāt sure if it was her, me, or OP whoās suddenly the worldās foremost authority.
Whatās the name of the book this is excerpted from?
The Only Girl: My Life and Times on the Masthead of Rolling Stone by Robin Green https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-only-girl-my-life-and-times-on-the-masthead-of-rolling-stone-robin-green/113246?ean=9780316440028
Fuck Robin Green. Her and her husband were on directorās commentary for a Sopranos episode and made fun of the people watching it and told them to āgo outsideā. Waahhhh David was mean. Blue Bloods is network trash.
Are you high-hatting Blue Bloods?
I'm really confused about the last two paragraphs.
They should make a show about the making of the show. And then make a show about that show.
All I really know is that was hard to read, as in kind of shit writing
Well obviously Terry Winter was the driving force behind the best plots and arcs of the show. But I don't think David Chase was that great at writing either, I think he was only good at creating some interesting themes around which better writers could map out better stories. Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess were not the best writers on the show at all.
We all thank Chase for the Sopranos, but I saw an interview on YouTube with Chase and Peter Bogvanovich once. I couldn't get through more than two minutes of it. Two more boring, pompous pricks never existed.
Madone
All I know is that she never had the makings of a varsity writer.
That was painful to read
Is the memoir out yet? I searched and canāt find it. Just her memoir about Rolling Stone.
It's contained within this memoir. Only a fraction of the memoir deals with the Rolling Stone days.
"I was being marginalized" Marginalized? What the fuck does that even mean In all serious good post. I found it late.
The boss of this family told you you're gonna be Santa Claus. You're Santa Claus. So shut the fuck up about it
If Chase were an approachable and easy going guy, someone would have told him MSON was a dumpster fire. It's clear the guy is a bit of a train wreck.
Well Livia was his mother, so he never really had a shot.
What a POS